Because You're My Brother
by LizabethKirk
Summary: Justin gets in serious trouble when he uses a spell to mask the symptoms of his sickness so that he can go to a concert, and Alex tries to help him, but ends up in trouble as well. Pairings: implied Jalex. Read & Review, Chapter Five now up!
1. Where Trouble Begins

Just Want to See You Smile

Summary: Justin gets in serious trouble when he uses a spell to mask the symptoms of his cold so that he can go to a concert, and Alex tries to help him, but ends up in trouble as well.

Pairings: implied Jalex

Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP. But I wish I owned Justin!

Chapter One – Where Trouble Begins

Justin groaned irritably as he woke up that morning from Alex banging two pots together loudly. Well, that was what he thought he heard. Really, Alex had just clapped her hands together loudly, in an effort to wake him, because her previous attempts had failed. His eyes opened slowly as he looked at his sister with mild irritation.

"What in the world Alex?" he yelled at her irritably. "I have a headache and I'm sick!"

Alex had noticed that there was something not quite right with Justin, but nevertheless, she chose to ignore it. Alex folded her arms skeptically.

"Yeah, right. You're just faking to get out of school."

"I am not!" Justin protested, holding the covers up to his chin. Alex rolled her eyes and marched over to him, and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. It was surprisingly warm to the touch, which meant Justin was definitely not faking his illness.

"Uh, Justin," Alex exclaimed in surprise. "That's definitely a fever. Want me to get mom and dad?" She grinned evilly at her older brother, knowing that was the last thing that he wanted.

"No! Please don't Alex, they'll never let me go to the concert tonight!" Justin's eyes looked desperate. Alex had no idea there was a concert that Justin was going to until right then.

"They won't if you don't go to school," Alex replied. She needed Justin to go to school, so that way she could have an excuse to hang out with Justin's new friend Mark. Justin's eyes widened in alarm. He was out of bed faster than you could say wizards. Alex noticed then that her older brother did look quite terrible. His hair was mused, but Alex thought it actually looked better that way. It didn't look like he was trying so hard.

She noticed that he was wavering on his feet. "Woah. Steady there." Alex told him. "Geez, are you sure you are up for school and the concert?"

"Yes!" Justin replied defiantly. "I'm fine!" And with that, he turned and wobbled out of the room. Alex frowned as she watched him leave. Then she rushed to catch up with him. She wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks," Justin muttered embarrassed. "I am feeling kind of dizzy." He laid his head on her shoulder.

"Kind of?" Alex replied raising her eyebrows. "You should not go to that concert, Justin."

"I'm fine. And I'm going." He glared at Alex. Alex just rolled her eyes, and continued to help him walk. Justin meanwhile was reaching for his wand out of the back pockets of his jeans. He knew a spell that would make everything right. Technically speaking he was not supposed to use it. It was illegal, unless it was absolutely necessary. For example, if a wizard was on a mission then it would be lawful. But using it to go to a concert was normally condemned.

He waved it in a twirl. "Coloporus symptonous now vanish and be banished!" He pointed the wand on himself, and he was suddenly able to walk upright.

Alex stared at Justin in shock. "Is that what I think it was?" Alex asked. Their dad, Jerry, had been teaching them all about spells used to cure illnesses. Normally one had to take a potion, but their dad had told them there were a few spells for easing minor illnesses, or making the symptoms completely vanish. But they were only supposed to be used in emergencies.

"Yes. So what?" he glowered at her. "I don't care. As long as I'm fine for tonight."

Alex stared at him in shock. "You don't care that you just did something that you're not supposed to do? Are you my brother?"

"Of course I am Alex!" Justin exclaimed in his high pitched voice. They were almost at their high school, which was not far from the sub shop. Justin was walking in his usual way, arms up and out as he prowled to his first class. Alex just shook her head at him. Her brother was so weird. The thought finished as Harper came up to her.

"Alex!" she said brightly. Today she was wearing a zebra-like ensemble. Alex wanted to puke when she saw the outfit.

"Do you have to wear that?" she asked Harper.

"Yes! It's save the zebras day! Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"Zebras aren't endangered!" Alex retorted, for lack of a response.

"They will be!!" Harper responded. "If we continue on damaging the environment, everything will be in danger!"

"I guess," Alex replied automatically. Secretly she was rolling her eyes behind her best friend's back. But she knew that it was pointless to argue. She wondered how Justin was doing. That was a costly spell that her brother enacted. _Dad would be so pissed if he fond out, Alex thought to herself_. _Come to think of it, that spell is completely illegal! _

"Russo!" the principal suddenly barked in his loud voice. "Get to class."

"I'm going!" she yelled back. With that she stalked off into her next class.

Meanwhile, Justin was doing fine physically. But the fact that he had done something completely illegal was also beginning to tear him up inside. In fact, he was ready to burst. But he was looking forward to his date with Kristie. That was stopping him from the guilt that normally would have gotten to him by now.

He was redoing the spell every hour on the hour, at the first sign of his symptoms coming back. His color though was still off, and he was pale. But at least he could concentrate on his studies. Justin listened interestedly at what the history was saying about the rise of Nazism in Germany. Suddenly, he heard something. It sounded off to him. Wait, it was off. He shot his hand up with alarming speed.

"Mr. Martin," Justin pointed out, "The Dachau camp was opened in 1933, not 1934."

The teacher looked at him, then flipped in his book. "Oh," he said. "You're right." He erased the offending number on the chalkboard.

Justin smirked to himself, and folded his arms across his chest proudly. He was of course sitting in the front where everyone could see. Some people glared at him behind his back. Justin did not have many friends at school; in fact his closest friend was his sister Alex, although he never hanged out with her at school. Rather, he hanged out with Zeke and the Alien Club.

The bell rang, and then it was time for lunch. Justin stalked off to find Alex. He needed her help with something.

He found her standing by Harper.

"Alex, there you are!" Justin said, walking briskly over. He noticed Harper staring at him. It was giving him the creeps as usual. Ugh, he did not really want to be in this situation right now.

"Would you stop that?" he shot at Harper.

"Stop what?" Harper said innocently.

"Stop staring!"

"I'm not!" Harper insisted. Justin grabbed on Alex's arm, and dragged her over by the stairs.

"What happens if you use the spell too much?" Justin asked.

"What spell?" Alex asked.

"The spell I used to make the symptoms disappear, duh!" Justin said, his eyes growing bigger, and desperate looking.

"How am I supposed to know?" Alex said. "You're supposed to be the smart one."

"Well I only know what happens if you use it once!" Justin whispered, panicked.

"Well what does it do when you use it once?"

"It comes back much stronger, the illness I mean – and the wizarding authority severely frowns upon it. They punish you…" Justin's voice trailed off. "Oh man, Professor Crumbs is really going to have it in for us this time."

"Well then stop using it until the concert!" Alex exclaimed.

"How can I get through class then? I feel like crap." Alex noticed then that he looked really pale, again. The spell had clearly worn off. "Justin…" she said, her voice actually showing sympathy for once. "You look like crap."

"Thanks, I know." His eyes were tearing up. "Allergies," he said. Alex knew that was a complete lie.

"Whatever," Alex said. "You should go home, and forget about that concert."

"I can't," Justin moaned. "I have to go to that concert. It's Tears of Blood! It's my favorite band."

"But you're sick Justin!" Alex said a little too loudly.

"Keep your voice down!" Justin said nervously glancing around. More specifically, he did not want Harper coming over and start to mollycoddle him, like he knew she would. However, his worst fears were confirmed when Harper started walking over. Justin looked exasperated. "Great, Alex, look at what you've done." He raised his arms in frustration.

"I didn't do anything!" Alex protested. Justin just glared at her.

"Oh really?" He leaned in closer to her, as he looked at her.

"Ohh, Justin! Are you okay?" Harper said. "You don't have a fever do you? I mean, if you're not feeling well, you should really…" She rambled on as she felt his forehead.

"What are you doing Harper? Stop it!" Justin said, batting her hand away.

"You do have a fever!"

"I know that!" Justin said. "I had it this morning! I'm fine." Harper creeped him out. So, Justin stalked off, not bothering to finish his conversation with his little sister. They had an unmistakable bond between them.

"Aww, poor Justin!" Harper said. "Tell him, that I hope he feels better soon."

"Oh I will," Alex replied. "I hope he feels better too…" Her own words surprised her slightly. But, she did not like seeing her brother like that. Yeah, he could be a wimp, but still, Justin was her brother and as much as Alex hated to admit it, she loved him. So knowing the pain he was in made her heart ache for him. "I'm going to see how's he doing. I'll catch you later Harper." Alex's voice was determinedly decided.

"Alex! We have class!" Harper exclaimed.

"Ahh, shoot," she said hesitating, "Cover for me."

"Fine," Harper said. "Since it is for Justin." A dreamy expression crossed her face and she smiled. Then she headed for class. Alex grinned to herself. She loved skipping class. Yes, Mr. Laritate would probably find out and possibly tell her parents. But this time she had a perfectly good reason for missing out. She walked down the hall and went in the room she saw Justin go in earlier.

She slid into his class and sat directly behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder. Justin jumped about a mile. "Ahh!" he yelled. "Alex! What are you doing?"

"Helping you dummy!" she said.

"I'm told you, I'm fine." A chill ran up his spine. "Okay, no, I'm not fine. And the spell isn't working anymore," he whispered to Alex.

"The sickness is draining some of your powers, huh?" Alex replied.

"Yes," Justin whispered.

"Hey!" Mr. Laritate barked. "No talking!" Then he spotted Alex. "Alex what are you doing in this class?!"

"Please, Mr. Larritate, I'm only trying to help Justin." Mr. Laritate looked at Justin.

"Is that true?" he asked. He looked at Alex. "You're not just trying to cut class again?"

"Yes, it's true," Justin said. "I'm not feeling well, Mr. Laritate." To prove his point he stood up, but was dizzy. Alex stood up too.

"I'm just going to escort him to the nurse," Alex said smirking at Mr. Laritate. He looked at her, and then let them both go. Once outside in the halls, Justin sat down on a bench, holding his head in his hands.

"Thanks," he muttered to Alex. "Maybe the concert isn't a good idea. I'm all wobbly."

"I told you," Alex replied. "Justin, you should really go to the nurse, and go home."

"Fine," he replied glumly. "Help me," he whispered. Alex obliged, and together they walked towards the health office. The nurse took one look at Justin and told him to sit down, and took his temperature, which was running at 103. _No wonder Justin feels so bad, Alex thought to herself. _Justin _never_ got fevers that high. Justin himself, looked alarmed at the news.

"Now what?" Alex asked.

"We call his parents," the nurse replied.

"That's okay," Justin said quickly. "Alex can take me." He looked at Alex with a meaningful glance. "Right, Alex?" he hissed.

"Oh right!" Alex said, catching on. "I can totally take Justin home. We normally walk anyways, it's pretty close. Plus my parents are both working." Alex was good at talking her way out of things.

"All right. You both can leave," the nurse conceded.

"Thanks!" Alex exclaimed brightly. "Come on Justin, let's go."

"You're just happy about missing the rest of school," he grumbled, as he took her hand willingly, as Alex struggled to pull him up.

"Maybe just a little," Alex said. "I'm mostly…worried about you." Justin raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"I'm sure," he replied. "Since when have you cared?" Alex normally just laughed at him whenever he was sick. Admittedly, Justin had never been this sick before. Still, Alex was the type to torture him whenever he was sick. So when he was, he tried to hide it, not wanting to miss school.

Justin kept his grades up very high unlike his sister.

Alex shrugged, "I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "This time is just…well, it's different okay?"

Justin did not say anything, he just wrapped his arm through hers, and they walked out of the school together. Brother and sister.


	2. A Bite of Parenting Medicine

Chapter Two – A Bite of Parenting Medicine

Alex decided to use a transport spell to get them both upstairs, and into Justin's room without their parents seeing. Justin was glad about this. Normally Justin would want his mama babying over him. But not this time. He was still holding the somewhat slim hope that he would be able to go to that concert that he had been looking forward to for over a month. Nevertheless, it was a relief to be back in his room, where he probably should have been the whole day. Still, he did not immediately crawl into bed.

Instead, he looked at Alex meaningfully. "You'll help me right Alex?" he asked when he was sure he was out of earshot of their parents. Justin rolled up the sleeves of the sweater that he typically wore. Was it just him, or was the room uncomfortably hot?

Surprise was evident on Alex's features. "Justin!" Alex exclaimed. "I thought we went over this!" The frustration was evident on her features. Her brother could be unbelievable sometimes. She could not believe that Justin was still trying to go to that stupid concert. It was such a bad idea. Besides, Alex did not like Justin's new girlfriend Kristie. Alex found her to be very stuck up. Some of the girls Justin dated, she did not know what her brother saw in them.

"Come on Alex!" Justin pleaded. "I help you all the time!" He whined, as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I know! But…this is different," she said. She looked at him. He looked back at her. After a few moments of this, finally, Alex relented. "Oh fine. But don't come crying to me if you catch pneumonia or something." Not like Justin wasn't headed there already. But Professor Crumbs was going to have it in for them for sure. Alex hoped that he wouldn't just barge in their room and take both of their powers away.

"Thanks, Alex," Justin replied. Alex started to raise her wand.

"Coloporous symptonous…" Alex started to say, but then she suddenly stopped mid spell, after realizing that she did not know how the rest of the spell went. "Uh Justin? How does the rest of the spell go?"

Justin groaned. "I've only did the spell like twenty times!" He said, but then realized that Alex had only been around him for just one of those times. "It's now vanish and be banished!" Justin whispered. "Hurry! Before mom and dad come up here."

Alex waved her wand again. "Coloporous symptonous vanish and be banished!" She pointed the wand at Justin. But the spell did not turn out the way it was supposed to. Alex had forgotten to say "now." The end result was that Justin's ears had steam coming out of them. But he felt better. Still not completely well though.

"Ahhh!! Alex! What did you do?" Justin said loudly. "You did the spell wrong!" How the heck was he supposed to go to the concert like this?

"Keep your voice down!" Alex said. "Mom and dad are going to hear!" Unfortunately, it was a bit too late for that.

Worse, just then their little brother Max burst in.

"Justin! Alex!" Max exclaimed. "You guys are in so much trouble with mom and dad! You guys totally ditched! I saw!" Max exclaimed.

"Max!" Justin said. "You are supposed to be in school!" Justin gritted his teeth together in frustration. He was being his bossy, mature self as usual. Alex was glad to see that was still there.

"Then why aren't you in school?" Max said.

Justin rolled his eyes. Wasn't it obvious? "I'm sick!" Justin yelled. "Duh!"

"You look fine to me," Max said, skeptical.

"That's because we used a spell," Justin hissed. "I was trying to go to a concert tonight."

"Oh," Max said. "Well, I think mom and dad know we're all home. They saw me come into the sub shop." Justin raised his hands in exasperation. That was the last thing that he wanted. He knew that was the last thing that Alex wanted as well.

"Great!" Justin said, raising his arms. Alex glanced at him, but Justin was still looking at Max. "Why'd you leave anyways Max?"

"Cause you guys did?" Max said, shrugging his arms. "You guys never tell me anything, it's so unfair."

"Just because we did something doesn't mean you're SUPPOSED to!" Justin exclaimed. He held out his hands, in a way that suggested his younger brother Max was a complete idiot. Then he looked at Alex, who was just about as mad as Justin was.

"Great, Max," Alex said, "Now they're going to know I ditched school again! They're going to be so pissed off." With that their dad and mom entered. Justin looked at her.

"Yeah, and how many times is it now?" Justin quipped. Alex gave him the death glare. The brief silence was nevertheless soon interrupted. All three of them heard steps coming up to the room. Alex gripped his brother's arm. She was prepared for whatever her dad was about to do. She just hoped that Max would not rat them out about that spell that they used.

"We thought we heard you kids!" Theresa immediately exclaimed as she saw all three of them. Her first instinct was that it was a bit odd that Justin was allowing both Alex and Max into his room. That definitely never happened. Something was up, that was for sure.

"What are you all doing home from school? You're not supposed to be home for another couple of hours," their dad said loudly. Then he spotted Justin's ears with all of the steam coming out from them.

He gaped at Justin's ears and then immediately rounded upon Alex who he automatically thought was the culprit. "Why is there steam coming out of Justin's ears? What did you guys do? ALEX?" Jerry was fuming. He recognized steam as being a sign of a failed sickness eraser spell. Or one of the side effects. Jerry could not remember which it was exactly.

"Dad, I can explain," Alex said quickly.

"What did you do to Justin?"

"I," Alex faltered. Justin quickly stepped in.

"Dad, Alex didn't do anything," he said. "I was not feeling well…and well you know how I have that concert with Kristie…well I kind of used a spell you are not supposed to use…coloporus," Justin said quickly, sitting down at the edge of his bed quickly, like he always did when he was nervous about something.

"What?" Jerry exclaimed loudly. "JUSTIN! I'm very disappointed in you!"

Alex stepped in.

"Dad! It's wasn't all Justin! Justin's ears are steaming because well…I was going to help him." She looked down at her feet, bracing for what was coming next. Her dad was about to pitch a serious fit. Jerry pointed his finger at his daughter.

"ALEX! Figures," Jerry muttered. "Justin! Alex! That spell is illegal! You're only supposed to use it in emergencies. It's a very dangerous spell! I expected better of both of you." There was a moment's pause. "Especially you Justin! You never break the rules!"

Justin's face said it all, it was full of shame. He was looking down at the floor and not at his dad. "I'm sorry dad, I know it was wrong, but…" He trailed off, after seeing his dad's angry face. Nevertheless, Justin was not going to back down this time. "But I had to do something," Justin protested. "I've been looking forward to this for a month! I saved up my own money!" He pointed at himself with a huge gesture of his arms.

"Well you're definitely not going now! Both of you are grounded for a week. No magic!"

"Dad!" Alex protested.

"No buts, Alex!" Jerry said. "You both deserve it."

"You tell them Jerry," Theresa said. But then she looked at Justin. Alex's spell was wearing off already, because it wasn't completely effective. In fact everyone had stopped their yelling to look at Justin.

"What are you guys looking at?" Justin said. He started backing away from them all. It was making him nervous, and scared. However, the Russos were looking at him, because he looked terrible. His eyes were completely bloodshot, his hair matted, and his face pale. Alex, especially, was extremely alarmed, because Justin looked far worse than he had that morning when he probably just had a cold or something along those lines.

"Jerry!" Theresa said pointing at Justin. "My poor baby's really sick!" She immediately went over and put a hand on his forehead. "You're burning up!"

"I know," Justin replied, his voice quiet and strained. Alex looked at him worriedly, but did not say anything.

"You did realize that spell makes symptoms worse when the spell wears off?" Jerry said. That was, if the spell was used in non-emergency situations. In emergency situations, the spell sometimes cured the illness altogether, or at least made it relatively mild.

Justin sighed. "I know THAT dad."

"All that for a ridiculous concert," Theresa muttered.

"Yeah, Justin's an idiot, we already know that," Alex quickly interjected, grinning at her older brother while flipping her hair, and winking.

"Hey!" he protested. "I am not."

"Sure Justin," Max replied.

"When you're well you're going to have some explaining to do to Professor Crumbs," Jerry said looking at both Alex and Justin. "And you both better pray that this time he doesn't take your powers away for good!"

"Great," Justin replied. He turned to Alex. "Think of something!" he hissed.

"I am!" Alex hissed back. She looked at her dad. "What are they going to do?"

"I don't know sweetie," Jerry said. "You guys better hope it's not too serious." He looked at Justin then. "You, bed. And Alex, Theresa and I are going out – you have to watch Justin."

"Aww, what?" Alex protested.

"This is both part of your punishments!" Jerry said. "Besides, Justin is clearly too sick to be left alone. Since he couldn't even finish school. Justin, you should be in bed." Justin quickly obliged. No point in arguing any further. Justin knew that what he did was wrong.

Alex looked at her brother. "Oh, I guess you're right." Justin did look terrible. She crossed her arms over her chest. "This is so your fault!" she glared at Justin. Theresa and Jerry exited. Max stayed with them.

"You guys are in so much trouble!" Max exclaimed gleefully. It was quite satisfying when his older brother was the one in trouble, since most of the time it seemed to be him and Alex that got into all the trouble around the house, while Justin was mostly spent trying to clean up after their messes.

Justin put his head down in his hands and groaned.

"I told you…" Alex started to say.

"Shut it Alex," Justin said for he was in a rather snappish mood.

"Justin!" Alex said.

"Alex!"

"You two sound like an old married couple," Max replied shaking his head at the two of them.

"No we don't!" Alex and Justin said at the same time. They both glared at Max.

"Seriously?" Max replied looking at both of them. "Do you guys listen to yourselves?"

"Yes," Alex said glaring at her little brother. "I do not sound like Justin!" Then she turned on Justin. "And I'm blaming you for having to stay here." She folded her arm across her chests.

"What happened to you wanting to help me?" Justin complained. Man, Alex had been so nice at school. Now back at their house, it was back to usual. He sighed and then coughed, while clearing the back of his throat. Alex, meanwhile, was scheming for a way to get Max out of the room. She had something important to talk to Justin about, concerning his friend Mark, who Alex totally had a crush on. Then a brilliant idea flashed into her head.

"Hey Max," Alex said suddenly, "I think I saw something new to order in the wizard mail. It was really cool too."

"Ooohh what is it! What is it?"

"Go find out!" Alex said. She shooed him out of the room. She laughed and shook her head. Then she looked at her brother. "We should really find a way to send him somewhere. For an entire year."

"Yeah, mom and dad would be really happy then," Justin said. "As if they aren't already mad enough."

"Yeah, mom and dad are pretty mad," Alex agreed. But she changed the subject in a hurry. "Listen, Justin. The thing is, I need your help with Mark."

Justin groaned. He knew it. Alex was only being nice to get something. How typical. He wished his sister could be sympathetic for once. "What happened now?"

"Nothing," Alex replied, "I just can't figure out if he actually likes me!" Alex's voice had a hint of frustration to it.

"He does Alex," Justin said his teeth beginning to chatter, "How many times do I have to tell you!"

"He's got a funny way of showing it," Alex replied. There was a moment's pause and then she finally noticed Justin shivering. "Are you cold?" she interjected suddenly.

"I'm freezing," Justin admitted.

"How can you be freezing?" Alex asked. "You have a fever."

"It's the chills!" Justin said. "Don't you know what a fever feels like?"

"I haven't been sick in awhile," Alex replied defensively. "Unlike some people, ahem, Justin, ahem, I have a good immune system." Justin glared at his sister, and then grabbed her arm on purpose.

"Yeah, we'll see about that, when you're as miserable as I am!" Justin replied. "You've been exposed to my contagious germs." He started to bring his hands up to her face.

"Ugh!" Alex exclaimed, backing away in a hurry. "Gross Justin!" She started backing away from him. "Well maybe I won't get it. Besides it won't be as bad as yours. You used the spell and made yourself worse."

"Oh yeah," Justin replied quietly. He _was_ feeling bad. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Alex," he said quietly. "Can I have some juice?"

"Sure," Alex replied. "Like in a million years." She noticed Justin's voice sounded weak, but ignored it.

"Alex!" Justin protested weakly.

"Oh fine," Alex said and she went downstairs to make Justin some juice, and she also used magic to make him some soup. Then she brought it up to him.

"You made me soup?" Justin asked weakly. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." There was a moment of silence between both of them. Alex was about to say something else, but then at that exact moment, Max came back into the room. He looked about and spotted the soup and the juice.

"I can't believe you're being nice to Justin!" Max said to Alex, his voice full of surprise.

"I can be nice to my brother," Alex shot back.

"Yeah, sure," Max said. "But, you normally write on Justin's face when he's sick, and put salt in his water, and things like that. And I normally get to help." Max was already scheming about something that he could do to Justin on his own. Justin was normally an easy target, but he'd be even easier now. Max grinned gleefully to himself.

Alex laughed, remembering all of the pranks that she had pulled on Justin in the past. It was pretty funny the things she had done to Justin. Like put ice in his covers when he was sleeping. Actually, that one had been slightly evil. Justin had woken up the next morning with a horrible fever, after shivering severely for about half the night. The images of the memories faded away and then Alex responded, "Yeah I know, but this is different, okay Max?"

"How?" Max said, clueless.

"It just is!" Alex exclaimed stomping her foot in frustration. "Max, just leave us alone, all right?"

"Fine," Max said, and he stormed out. Alex watched him leave and then she turned her attention back to her older brother. His eyes had a glassy, sickly looking to them, and Alex felt sorry for him.

"Justin," she said, "I'm sorry." Alex was actually sorry. She felt this weird feeling of sympathy for her brother.

"What are you sorry for?" Justin asked. "This was my fault. I used that spell that…" he broke off as a fit of coughing overtook him. Alex patted him on the back while the coughing fit persisted. When it subsided, she grabbed him and hugged him hard. Justin looked surprised at first and then he hugged her back.

"Thanks Alex," Justin said smiling at her, "I needed that." He did not know why his sister was being so nice, but hey, he would take it. It was a nice change from her trying to get back at him all of the time. He loved his sister…but there was something more to it. It was not like he did not love his whole family, because he did. But with Alex, his best friend, there was something deeper. He just could not put his finger on it. Instead he just continued to hold on to her, knowing this was just the calm before the storm. They both had some explaining to do.


	3. Sneaking Out Brings Trouble

Chapter Three – Sneaking Out Brings Trouble

Author's Notes: Please review!! This has a lot of hits, but hardly any reviews. I don't know if I'm doing a good job or not.

Alex let go of her brother albeit somewhat reluctantly. "Feel better Justin," she whispered in his ear, as she did so. She noticed that Justin was a bit reluctant to let go as well. He leaned back into the pillows and closed his eyes. All of a sudden he was feeling very tired. But he was reluctant to go to sleep. He wanted to sneak out and go to that concert.

Justin gave a fake yawn. He looked at Alex. "I'm going to that concert. And you're going to help me sneak out."

Alex looked at him. "If you're going, then I'm going too. Or I will tell mom and dad." Justin's eyes got bigger.

"You wouldn't dare," Justin said.

"Oh I would," Alex replied. "Besides you need to recast that spell. Over and over." Justin groaned. He did not want his sister tagging along on his date. But he knew she was right.

"Okay, fine. But how are we going to sneak out without Max noticing?" Justin asked.

"We'll just take him with us," Alex replied. "There. Problem solved." She looked down at her brother, feeling extremely superior to him in that moment. But Justin had thought of something else that needed to be solved first.

"No, not problem solved," Justin croaked. "I only have two tickets to Tears of Blood." Alex looked at him.

"Are you a wizard or not?" Alex said. "We'll just sneak in. We're wizards," Alex replied emphasizing the word wizard. "You're such a wiz-idiot!" Alex had come up with the new nickname for him only recently. But, the words barely left her mouth when Justin started coughing again, and Alex regretted them slightly. But only slightly.

"Oh." Justin said. He looked blank for a second before realization hit him hard. "Right!" Justin said loudly, but not as loudly as he normally would say such a thing. His voice wasn't up to much at the moment. Certainly it was not up to shouting. He nearly jumped as Alex grabbed his hand to pull him up to his feet. Then she pulled out her wand and waved it towards her brother.

"Coloporous symptonous vanish now and be banished!" This time Justin knew the spell had worked properly. He could _feel _it. His normal strength was returning to him, and he had energy. In fact, Justin was well enough to feel up to eating something. He had not eaten anything all day. Alex's spell was definitely stronger than his had been, because he was sick, and didn't have the same level of energy to make the spell as powerful as it should have been. But this one would last a good three or four hours.

"Let's get Max, and get out of here. Before mom and dad change their minds or something and come back. I can't believe they left us on our own," Justin said. Normally, they only left when they could count on Justin to be in charge. But surely, they could not have expected Alex to keep order over everything? Justin rationalized that maybe, since he was sick, Alex would tone down her normal antics. But in fact, all three of them were about to sneak out.

It actually felt good to Justin. He took Alex by the arm and dragged her out of the room.

"Max!" Alex yelled. "Where are you?"

"Oh now you guys want to fill me in," Max said, his hands on his hips. "Okay, what is it this time?" He about expected Alex to have some sort of plan.

"We're sneaking out. All of us. To Justin's Tears of Blood concert," Alex explained. Max's eyes lit up with excitement.

"ALL RIGHT!" he exclaimed pumping his fist in the air. " My first concert! This is going to be awesome!"

Alex just grinned. "Yes it is," she replied. Justin leaned on her arm. Alex shivered slightly at her brother's presence so close to her. In fact, her stomach was flittering with a mixture of butterflies, and a sense of peace at the same time. Alex felt safe with her brother around.

It was time for a spell improvisation. Justin raised his wand. "If our parents come home there will be a flood, so take us to see Tears of Blood." All three of them vanished from the house and appeared inside the Tears of Blood concert, where the warm-up act was just getting started. The concert hall was loud and crowded. Someone shoved into Alex.

"Hey watch it!" she snapped. It was kind of amazing how they had just popped in without anyone noticing. Alex hoped no one came around asking to see tickets. But luckily, there was a mosh pit, so Alex figured that they could just always blend in with the crowd.

Meanwhile, Justin was grinning. He had managed to get them to the right spot. He pushed up his sleeves. It was time for him to find his girlfriend. He did so almost immediately, much to Alex's annoyance. They gave a long hug to each other, which for some reason annoyed Alex. She rolled her eyes behind her brother's back.

The concert was loud and it was good, but Alex was barely paying attention to it. About an hour into the concert, Alex was getting annoyed by the whole plan. Justin was preoccupied and Max was just annoying.

"What does Justin see in her anyways?" Alex finally muttered to no one in particular.

"What was that?" Max said. Alex looked around, startled. She had not realized that Max was within earshot of her. He must have finished doing whatever he was doing.

"Nothing," Alex replied, in a fake innocent tone. "I didn't say anything." She pretended to be nonchalant about it all.

"Yes you did," Max said. "I heard you say something about a sea way?" Max asked. "That sounds so totally awesome, by the way, just saying." Alex stared at him. Was her little brother serious? God.

"Max, really?" Alex said. "A sea way? There's no such thing as a sea way!"

"Yes there is!" Max replied. "Remember that underwater seahorse camp that you were going to send me on? The Wiz Site talked about how their sea ways are just like freeways!"

"Oh, my gosh," Alex replied. She looked over at Justin. "Help me!" She mouthed.

"I can't hear you," Justin mouthed back at her.

"I can hear you," Alex mouthed once again. Justin just gave her a confused stare. "Oh forget it!" she said, annoyed. This whole concert was not as much fun as she thought that it was going to be. Justin was drooling over Kristie as usual. So gross. But as she continued watching them, she noticed something odd. They weren't standing very close at all. In fact, they were barely speaking. _What is up with that? Alex thought to herself. _She went over, and grabbed Justin's arm.

"What's going on?" she whispered In Justin's ear.

"Huh?" Justin replied. "What do you mean, Alex?"

"Well, Kristie looks like she's about to cry, and you guys aren't hugging, or kissing or anything." Unlike how they normally were.

"Yeah, about that," Justin replied. "We broke up. Kristie told me that she kissed another guy. So I dumped her." Alex looked at him.

"You're not devastated?" Alex said. "I thought I would have to stand here and carry the pieces of your heart by now."

"Well, you don't," Justin replied. "My heart is fine." Justin had realized that he did not really like Kristie anymore. First of all, she was not Juliet, nor was she even Alex for that matter. Alex and Justin had a very complicated relationship. Justin gave a long sigh, and yawned. He was feeling very sleepy at this point, a sure sign that the spell was about to fade. Alex knew Justin was probably upset by what happened, he was just trying not to admit it.

"Come on," Alex said, grabbing her brother's hand. "Let's find Max and get out of here, okay?" Justin nodded. All of a sudden he was not feeling the greatest, but it was not the sickness. The spell was still working. Even though he no longer loved Kristie, it was still hard, especially knowing that she had cheated on him. It hurt his pride. In fact, that was what was wounded the most. His pride. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes.

"Allergies," he insisted to Alex when he caught her looking at him.

"I know," was all Alex said. She tapped Max on the shoulder. "Max, we're going. Quick! Before mom and dad come back! Maybe they'll never know that we snuck out."

Max looked at them. "Oh they'll know all right. I'm going to tell them that you two snuck me out. I had nothing to do with it."

"You wouldn't," Alex replied.

"Oh, I would," Max said.

"Yeah, he would," Alex said turning her back away from her younger brother. "Let's buy some time with this rhyme, and send us back, before we all break our sack!" However, as soon as they landed back at home, Alex and Justin saw Professor Crumbs standing there, waiting for them. Justin gulped, and Alex looked at her brother, scared.

"It will be all right," Justin mouthed.

"Justin. Alex. Why am I not surprised?" Professor Crumbs replied. "You're lucky they sent me and not the wizard police."

"You're not going to take our powers away are you?" Justin asked, his voice cracking every so slightly. He felt dizzy. Alex's spell to go back in time had made her earlier spell wear off. He was sweating, and felt rather faint. He felt his fingers dig deeper into Alex's shoulder.

"Ouch!" she said. "Justin!" She turned and looked at him and not Professor Crumbs. "Justin! Are you okay?"

"No," he managed to say, "I…." he could not complete the thought. Then Professor Crumbs interjected into their conversation.

"Justin," Professor Crumbs said, choosing to ignore the Russo family's reckless behavior for now, "When you are well, you will be punished." He looked significantly at both Alex and Justin. Then he vanished. Justin moaned, and looked at Alex.

"What are we going to do?" he asked her. "We're in so much trouble." He was leaning against her, but she couldn't fully support his weight.

"Justin," Alex said, "Put your arm around my should…" but Alex stopped short because the door had just opened and their parents were standing right there. She gulped.

"Professor Crumbs informed us that you all SNEAKED out to that concert," Jerry explained. He looked at all three of them, but his eyes kept flickering towards his oldest, who was struggling to stand up right. "YOU THREE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE! ALEX! MAX! I'm grounding you both for a week. No hanging out with friends, nothing. You come home and do your homework."

"Aww, but dad!" Alex started to complain. Jerry held up a finger.

"Ahh..ahh," he said, "NO BUTS."

"What about Justin?" Alex asked. Justin glared at her.

"I think he's being punished enough," Jerry said. "But I can't believe that you went to the concert, Justin, when you're this sick." When Justin got sick, he hated missing school, but loved his mother's attention. He would never sneak out either. When Justin got sick, he got _sick. _Alex glanced over at her older brother, privately thinking her dad was right. She had never been more worried about Justin until that moment. Her heart ached for him.

"Justin, sweetheart," Theresa said, "You go upstairs and rest, okay? I'll bring you up something later.

"Me too mom," Alex replied quickly. "Come on, Justin." She supported him up the stairs as Justin was wobbly. He felt extremely warm next to her, and Alex could tell that the fever her brother had earlier had spiked considerably. This only made her concern for him grow deeper.

"Thanks," Justin told Alex tiredly when they finally made it up the stairs. He was breathing heavily, and Justin was a bit unnerved that such a little task could make him so tired.

He stumbled over and collapsed onto his bed. Alex pointed her wand at Justin's bedside and a glass of water appeared. She smiled down at him. He looked so cute lying against the pillows with the covers pulled all the way up to his chin. Justin's eyes were closed. He was already asleep, having been extremely exhausted.

"Good night, Justin," Alex whispered quietly, and sadly. Her brother had to be okay. She had something important to tell him…she thought that she was falling in love with him. As more than just a sister.


	4. A Sudden Unexpected Realization

Chapter Four – A Sudden Unexpected Realization

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming please! They make me write faster. This chapter is shorter then the others, but I felt it was a good place to end it.

Alex snuck quietly out of Justin's room, and back downstairs.

"Oh Alex, how is he?" his mother Theresa said when she saw Alex come down the stairs. She did not wait for Alex's answer, however. Instead she started walking, "I'm going to go up there," she announced as she went. Alex watched her mom go up there. Alex noticed her dad was not saying anything, however. _Probably still mad, Alex thought to herself. _Her dad could hold grudges at times. She still remembered that time when her dad was trying to teach her how to fly the magic carpet.

He had only stopped yelling at her after her brother Justin had to intervene. The thought sent shivers down Alex's spine as she reflected on the memory. Justin had come at night into her room while she had been sleeping, and had taught up. She loved that memory of him.

Alex sat down next to her dad. "Dad," Alex said. "I'm really sorry," Alex said. "Please forgive me! I was just trying to help Justin! You know how much he loves Tears of Blood. And Kristie broke up with him." Jerry looked at his daughter.

"Ah ha!" Jerry said. He pointed his finger at Alex. "I know what you're trying to do Alex! And it's not going to work! You're trying to guilt trip me! But its not going to work! You guys have crossed the line one too many times. You're lucky that Professor Crumbs hasn't taken your powers away! Especially you, Alex, after you almost got them taken away once before."

"Dad, I'm not!" Alex insisted. "But I only did it to help Justin. And last time, he only did something wrong to help me." All very true. "So if he didn't take my powers away last time, he can't take away Justin's this time." This is what Alex was absolutely banking on. Secretly, though, she was crossing her fingers behind her back.

"You guys have gone too far this time," Jerry replied. "I don't know, I think one of you is going to lose their powers this time. And I mean that, though I hope I'm wrong." For Jerry did not want his kids to lose their powers. They had worked hard, especially Justin, to get as far as they had come. They both deserved a chance to be the family wizard, even though he hated how Alex often broke the rules.

Alex looked to be on the verge of tears. She did not say anything, just ran upstairs in a hurry, nearly colliding with her mom as she did so.

"Jerry?" Theresa said looking after her daughter. "What on earth did you say to her?" Jerry just threw his hands out.

"I don't know. I don't get it," Jerry replied. "I have no idea what she's so upset about. She knows what she did was wrong!" His voice was raised. He yelled at Alex all of the time. How was this any different? Jerry was at a loss.

Meanwhile, Alex ran straight into Justin's room. She immediately went near him, and was sobbing. In fact, Justin was woken up by hearing her sobbing. He was shocked to see Alex in such a state. What on earth had happened while he had been asleep?

"Alex?" he asked quietly. "What happened?" She just shook her head, and then unexpectedly grabbed onto him, hugging him hard. He held her there for a while, his heart hammering against his chest. He stroked her hair as he did so, wondering why he could not stop his heart rate. It was not because he was wheezing or anything. But, seeing Alex so vulnerable, had shaken something in him, had shaken something awake in him, in fact.

Finally, she answered him. "I don't want you to lose your powers," she said. "Its not fair, mine should have been taken away that other time." Justin didn't say anything. He could tell that it was not the only thing that was bothering his sister. He waited for her to speak though. He wasn't really up for doing much talking. Just the listening part.

"Dad is so mad," Alex went on. "What if he doesn't forgive us? Justin, I'm scared. Scared that we _are _going to lose our powers this time." Justin nodded.

"I'm scared too, Alex. But two of us are going to lose our powers eventually…" he trailed off, into a resounding, hacking cough, which alarmed Alex.

"Justin?" she interrupted. "You okay?" He nodded in between the coughs as he waited for them to subside. But he could tell that Alex wasn't exactly convinced. Justin found himself wanting to be vulnerable in front of her and it was strange. No, his thoughts were not going to go there. He had promised himself that they wouldn't. There had just been that one time when Alex had been into Riley that Justin had found himself jealous. And from then on he had buried it. Buried it so successfully that he had not even been jealous of Dean.

But Alex's obsession with Mark had annoyed him. Now, he realized that he was jealous. His head ached with the thoughts, and it scared him. _She's your sister!_ His own brain was in conflict with his heart, and he couldn't synthesize the two together. "Yeah, I suppose," he replied. "Why do you care?" he demanded. Seriously, Alex was acting weird. A glimmer of hope flickered in him for a brief moment.

She wiped the tears away, before responding. "I'm scared, Justin," she repeated. "You're sick, and I'm scared." Justin looked at her, wondering what it meant. What was she trying to tell him?

"Don't be Alex, I will be fine." Justin thought this to be true. It was just the flu wasn't it? He had all of the classic symptoms, although when he coughed, it hurt his chest. Justin had not told his mother Theresa about it either, not wanting to worry his mother. She always worried too much when Justin was sick, because he was his mama's little boy. Always would be. Justin knew his mom favored him, just as their dad favored Alex even though she was always getting into trouble, much to Justin's annoyance.

"But I am!" Alex said. "You're my brother, and I love you."

For a moment, Justin's heart leapt into his throat, but then he realized she was only talking about it as n a sisterly love, and his heart sank back into its place. Of course. He should have realized. Disappointment etched across his pallid features but he knew Alex would just chalk it up to illness.

"I love you too Alex," Justin replied. There, that wasn't so hard. He could be normal around his sister. He would just have to bury his feelings forever. There was no way he and Alex could be together. Besides, Justin was sure Alex was not thinking the same way he was.

But Justin was wrong. Alex was crying because she realized that she loved Justin with something deeper then just a mere family love. And she knew that they could never be together. In fact she was mad at herself for even thinking such insane thoughts.

Both of them were looking away from each other, both not realizing they were thinking the exact same thoughts about each other.


	5. We Have to Try

Chapter Five – We Have to Try

Author's Note: sorry for the long delay, next chapter will be faster, I'm sure!

When Justin woke up the next morning, he was feeling horrible, worse then yesterday, even. He could barely lift his head off of the pillow. He coughed deeply into his hands, the cough hurting his chest. There was no way that he would be able to make it to school. It would be the first time in years. Justin _hated _missing school. So he attempted to get up, but he felt dizzy from the fever, and had to lean against the wall to prevent himself from falling over.

Needless to say, it was not the smartest plan that Justin had in awhile. Justin couldn't remember the last time that he had felt this sick. It was probably never. He wanted to run to Alex and have her be his nurse. He was seriously tempted to beg his parents to let Alex stay home from school as well. Thus, he braced on the wall and slowly began to make his way downstairs into the living room/kitchen. Theresa looked at him.

"Oh Justin," she sighed with just a note of irritation in her voice. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

Justin nodded. "Well I just thought with you and dad running the shop, maybe Alex could stay?"

"You want your sister?" his mother asked surprised. Just then Alex came down the stairs.

"Want what?" Alex said startled. Theresa had already made up her mind. She could tell that Justin couldn't be left on his own for a long period of time. He was too sick.

"Alex, your brother needs you to take care of him. I'll let you miss school just this once, since your brother is so sick, and we have to take care of the shop." Theresa replied. Alex's eyes lit up at once.

"Really?" she asked looking at her mom. "Sure you're not sick too?" Her mom would normally never let her miss school. Not the way she was behind all of the time.

Theresa sighed, "Yes, I must be crazy, but yes." Alex grinned. She was getting to miss a whole day of school and she did not even have to be sick to do it. She should try and get Justin sick more often. Unfortunately her brother seemed to be the opposite of her. He _never _got sick, having had perfect attendance for two years in a row. Actually, correction. Justin never admitted he was sick, and even when he was, he generally went to school anyways, even with a fever. For Justin not to go to school meant that he was really sick.

"Now back upstairs!" Theresa said looking at Justin meaningfully. "And Alex, be sure and take his temperature!"

"I will mom," Alex said, annoyed. She grabbed Justin by the arm. "Come on," she told him. Justin leaned on her. For once the roles were reversed. Alex was the one looking after _him._ And she was not teasing him. He kind of liked it. No, scratch that, he really liked it.

"Thanks," he murmured, his voice husky from the sore throat and cough that he had. It reminded him of yesterday. Alex had helped him up the stairs that time too. Ugh, his head felt heavy. He wondered how he had managed to get out of bed. That seemed like such a long time ago.

And Justin slept almost immediately after crawling back into bed. Alex took his temperature while he was sleeping. It was a shade over 103 degrees Fahrenheit. It hadn't gone down at all from yesterday. That was a bit worrisome. She frowned and then ran down to the kitchen to fill up a cup of water, which she placed beside his bed. Then she sat there. But she was tempted to hold his hand.

She watched him for a few hours until he stirred. Justin smiled softly when he saw her.

"Feeling better?" Alex asked. Justin shook his head.

"Not really, no," he replied. Truthfully, he felt like complete crap. His eyes felt all crusted together and would barely stay open. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Still, he knew he needed to stay awake. He just had to know. Not knowing was making him worse, if anything.

"Alex," he said suddenly. "Yesterday, what did you mean when you said you loved me?" He had assumed that it was just in a brotherly way. But he had to know for sure. The back of his mind was shouting out the possibility of what if it had meant more? He had to take the chance. He could just use the time spell, mcreary tim... He couldn't remember the rest. The fever was getting to him, fogging his brain.

"Wha..what do you mean?" Alex stammered, caught completely off guard. "I think you're delirious," she declared. What had prompted Justin to even say that? It did not occur to Alex that her brother was asking because he felt the same way as her. At least not until he spoke again.

"I'm not," Justin protested weakly. "At least, I don't think I am." Well, he was a little delirious, but he still knew what he was saying. "I mean, do you love me Alex?" he asked her. "Because I love you, more than a brother should." There. He had finally let the words out, words that he had been hiding for a while now. "I know it's wrong, but I can't help it."

Alex's mouth opened in a bit of shock, then she quickly closed it again. She did not step away from him though, which encouraged Justin and gave him some hope. How long had she wanted Justin to say exactly that? It seemed unreal to her that he was saying it now, in this moment.

"Are you sure you're not delirious?" Alex asked again, this time, feeling his forehead. God, he was _hot_. His fever had gone up from the time that she had taken his temperature. Well he was hot, but Justin was also burning up. "You're burning up!" she exclaimed, removing her hand.

"I know. And, I might be a little delirious," he admitted, "But I know what I am saying Alex. I love you." Alex looked like she was ready to cry of happiness, but she held back the tears nonetheless.

"I meant it the same way as you," Alex replied softly. "I love you too." She hugged him hard, not wanting to kiss him. Then she would get sick for sure. Of course, she probably would get his "cold." But definitely not whatever the sickness eraser spell had turned the cold into. Still, Justin did not reciprocate the hug. Alex stood there looking confused. Hadn't they just said that they loved each other?

"What is it?" Alex asked. "What's wrong?"

"We can't do this," Justin said, his voice hoarse. He was losing his voice slightly, and he cleared his throat loudly. "This is _wrong_ Alex. What would mom and dad say?"

"They wouldn't have to know," Alex replied. "No one would have to know."

"They'd find out eventually though," Justin pointed out, and then started to cough, deep moist coughs.

"They wouldn't," Alex insisted. "Not if we have other boyfriends and girlfriends." She paused as Justin kept coughing. "Are you okay?" Justin just gave her a look.

"What would be the point in that?" he responded immediately. "I'd just be jealous. What if you liked them more than me?"

"I could never do that," Alex replied. "I would never do that. Do you know how long I've waited for you to say those words?" Justin just shook his head.

"Well I've waited forever!" she declared. She looked at Justin's flushed, red cheeks, and the pale color of his skin. He still looked handsome, even with the signs of illness quite evident in his features. "You look awful," she declared.

He glared at her. "Thanks." Alex looked at him for a moment.

"Justin," she said. "We can do this. I know we can. We have to at least try, right?" He looked at her, and then nodded in agreement. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

"We have to try," Justin replied. "I agree." But deep inside of him, all Justin could see was how this could go really wrong. He shivered, and Alex wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. He was not cold per say, more ill at ease. He was not sure that this was going to work. But he was going along with it. Because he couldn't but help love his sister.


End file.
